14 Senators File Amendments to Immigration Act in Bipartisan Move

A bi-partisan group of 14 Senators today introduced an amendment to the 1952 Immigration and Nationality Act that would replace the present national origins quota structure with a new system.

The new formula, based on population ratios and the pattern of immigration over the last 15 years, would provide 80,000 quota visas to be divided among countries in proportion to the relation between their population and world population. Another part of the formula would allocate visas on the proportion of a country’s immigration to the United States over the last 15 years as related to the total of all immigrants into the U.S.A.

The measure, brought to the Senate floor by Democratic Senator Philip Hart of Michigan, on behalf of the group, including three Republicans and 10 other Democrats, was described as an attempt “to fulfill” the 1960 platform planks of the Democratic and Republican parties. Both party planks label the present system “discriminatory.” The new measure would place the greatest emphasis on reuniting families now separated as a result of partial immigration. The measure would also provide for a pooling arrangement at the end of each year of unused quotas. The unused quotas would be divided among quota areas having a back-log of applicants waiting for immigrant visas.